HOCKEY; Devils Rediscover Power in Their Play

The Devils took the body and crashed the net with abandon against the Flyers this afternoon, and were rewarded with a 6-4 victory at Byrne Meadowlands Arena.

Inspired performances by Stephane Richer and Bernie Nicholls, each with a goal and two assists, made for the most productive outing in the last eight games for the Devils.

Richer and Nicholls were a constant threat, especially on the power play, which produced 3 goals in 6 attempts after converting on only 2 of 17 attempts in the previous five games.

The decision by Coach Herb Brooks to use Nicholls at the point and move Richer up front with the man advantage was the main reason for the success of the power play this afternoon. Twenty-Four Hours in Making

Nicholls said: "Our power play was struggling a little, so the coach made a small change. Coaches like to make things work. It's like they change lines. If a line doesn't go well, they experiment."

The experiment, which started at Friday's practice, worked well for the Devils. This afternoon Nicholls made the right choice of plays, and Richer was very active operating down low, twisting and turning in the corners and otherwise causing havoc.

With Nicholls as the center and Richer as the right wing, John MacLean was able to raise his game a notch at left wing. He showed improvement as the third forward on the power play and at even strength.

"Bernie is a first-class centerman," said MacLean, who had a goal and an assist to give the line eight points for the game. "He's comfortable back there, he sees the ice a lot more," MacLean said, referring to Nicholls's playing the point on the power play.

Forward Aleksandr Semak also was a force for the Devils with two goals, his 20th and 21st. Bruce Driver had the other goal for New Jersey (26-24-4) against Tommy Soderstrom, who faced 32 shots.

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Brent Fedyk, Rod Brind'Amour, Josef Beranek and Kevin Dineen had the goals for the Flyers (19-27-9) against Chris Terreri. The Devils goalie also faced 32 shots and recorded his first victory in his last six starts.

The victory was only the third in the last 10 games (3-6-1) for the Devils, and it wasn't quite pleasing to Brooks. He was visibly upset in his post-game meeting with the news media. A Porous Defense

"Absolutely inexcusable," he said about the way the Devils allowed the Flyers to get back into the game after New Jersey had scored the first three goals. "The defense was going up ice against the grain, creating gaps."

After Driver's 9th, Nicholls's 11th and Semak's 20th put the home team where it wanted to be, the Flyers scored twice 11 seconds apart early in the second period. Goals by Fedyk and Brind'Amour created a 3-2 game 3 minutes 18 seconds into the period.

Richer then took matters into his own hands. Stripping the puck away from Dimitri Yushkevich in the neutral zone during a four-on-four situation, he beat Soderstrom through the legs.

"That was the turning point of the game," Brooks said of Richer's 20th goal, which gave the Devils a 4-2 lead at 6:02 of the middle period. "It was the second turning point. The first turning point was when we went up 3-0 with a nice tempo."

"This is a good victory for us, but it won't mean anything unless we win tomorrow," Nicholls said, referring to the return match of the home-and-home series.

"We need the game tomorrow because you don't want to go .500 with a team below you. I think this is the time of year for some of the older players on the team to step up."

SLAP SHOTS

RANDY McKAY returned for the Devils after missing nine games with a sprained right knee he suffered against the Islanders on Jan. 16. McKay played right wing on a line with PETER STASTNY at center and TROY MALLETTE at left wing. . . . MYLES O'CONNOR, TOMMY ALBELIN, TOM CHORSKE and JANNE OJANEN were the scratches for the Devils. . . . The goal by BERNIE NICHOLLS was his third in the last four games. . . . STEPHANE RICHER now has multiple points in four of his last five games. . . . Coach HERB BROOKS said he had not decided who will start in goal at the Spectrum Sunday afternoon. CHRIS TERRERI has played all three games against the Flyers and is 2-1-0.

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A version of this article appears in print on February 14, 1993, on Page 8008007 of the National edition with the headline: HOCKEY; Devils Rediscover Power in Their Play. Order Reprints|Today's Paper|Subscribe